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The Seven Churches of Revelations Lesson 3
Revelation 2:1-7 – The Church at Ephesus
(Rev. Barry Johnson and Rev. Rodney Johnson)
Introduction
This is lesson three of our teaching series on the Seven Churches of Revelations. In this lesson, we will be examining the message that Jesus sent to the Church of Ephesus. Before we start, let’s pause for a moment of prayer for guidance as we do our study today.
Although the churches at Jerusalem, Antioch, and Corinth all had a tremendous influence on the development of the Early Church, it seems that none had an impact as significant as the church of Ephesus. Because of its unique beginning, strategic location, and enormous size, the Ephesian church had a monumental level of influence on churches throughout Asia. In addition, the repercussions of spiritual events that occurred in Ephesus rippled out to churches in every part of the Roman Empire. Many of these events were recorded in the book of Acts between chapters eighteen and twenty. While we could do an entire lesson on those events, I want to review just a few as I set the stage for what you will hear in this lesson.
· The church of Ephesus was started as a result of the apostle Paul and his ministerial partnership with Aquila and Priscilla. The book of Ephesians was written to this church. Aquila and Priscilla are mentioned in Acts 18:18-28 as being in Ephesus and helping Apollos understand the Scriptures better. Apollos eventually became the pastor of the Corinthian church which resulted in an ongoing relationship between those two churches for many years.
· When Paul left Ephesus, he asked Timothy to serve as pastor of the Ephesian church, a position the younger minister accepted. (1 Timothy 1:3)
· It appears that Paul established his ministry headquarters in Ephesus.
· At the conclusion of Paul’s three years of ministry in Ephesus, a great riot occurred which was recorded in Acts 19:23-27. The riot arose because the silversmiths who made silver shrines of Diana (the pagan goddess of fertility) were losing money. After all, as people got saved they stopped worshipping Diana and purchasing shrines and other idols representing her for their homes. As you can imagine, these merchants were not happy with Paul.
· When the apostle John moved to the city of Ephesus, he brought with him Mary, the mother of Jesus, whom he cared for until her death, as Jesus had requested of him. (John 19:25-27) The apostle John was arrested in Ephesus and subsequently exiled to the island of Patmos. The gospel of John and the epistles of First John, Second John, and Third John were all written during the time of John’s residency in Ephesus. The apostle John died in Ephesus.
· Historical writings reveal that Ephesus was also home to many Christian leaders. The Christian community in Ephesus eventually became so large that the city was officially declared a “Christian city.” However, at the time of John’s exile on the island of Patmos, the Ephesian Christians were undergoing severe persecution at the hands of Domitian’s government. It was during this period of adversity that John received the message for this Church from the Lord.
Before we go into the message, I want to quickly remind you of the things the Churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia did that Jesus approved of. Remember, these were the only two churches that Jesus did not have a problem with. We want to remind you of them so that you can compare them to what you’re going to hear in the message to the church in Ephesus.
To the church in Smyrna, Jesus told them He knew their works and that they were being persecuted. He told them that they were rich (even though by the world’s standards they were poor.) He told them not to fear what was getting ready to happen to them and to be faithful – indicating that this is what they were already doing. He told them they would receive a crown of life for their faithfulness.
Next to the church at Philadelphia, Jesus told them that they were faithful. He said while they had little strength, they kept His word and did not deny His name. He commended them on keeping His command to persevere. So Jesus commended these two churches for persevering, not giving up in the face of persecution, remaining faithful, and not denying His name. He had nothing negative to say about these two Churches. With this as a background, let’s look at what He said to the church in Ephesus. Barry, why don’t you get us started?
Verses 1-4
“Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; these things says He that holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. (2) I know your works, and your labor, and your patience, and how you cannot bear them who are evil: and you have tried them who say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars. (3) And have endured, and have patience, and for My name's sake have labored, and have not fainted. (4) Nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first love.” (Revelation 2:1-4)
“Unto the angel (pastor) of the church of Ephesus write” – What jumped out at me was the word “write.” It means “graphic” or “description.” Jesus is telling John “I want you to document this in graphic detail because My Church, the Body of Christ, needs to see and understand how a faithful church, over a period of time, can slowly become an unfaithful church.” As we read about Ephesus, we’re going to see that this church originally was no different than the churches at Smyrna and Philadelphia, which Jesus praises.
“These things says He that holds the seven stars in His right hand” – In scripture, the right hand is symbolic of power and blessings. Jesus is making it very clear that He is the one who holds all the power and He is the One who blesses.
“Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lamp stands (churches)” – This reminds me of Genesis 3:8. After Adam and Eve had sinned, God came to the Garden of Eden and the way it’s worded, it was His routine. Let’s read it. “And they (Adam and Eve) heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day …” Adam and Eve knew God was in the garden by His sound. God had such a relationship with them that they knew His sound. When I read about Jesus walking in the midst of the churches, it tells me that His desire is for a relationship with them because he desires to use His power on their behalf and to bless them.
This also reminds me of how Satan responds to God’s question “From where do you come?” (Job 1:7a) Satan answers “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” (Job 1:7b) The words “walk” and “walking” in these verses – they communicate the same thing and it’s vitally important for Christians to understand: Jesus, God the Father and Satan were inspecting what they had dominion over. When Jesus walks among the seven churches and the Church today, He’s inspecting them to see if how they are living is how they should be living. In other words, are they living up to Jesus’ standards?
Rodney: Barry that is such a great point. When we are in Church worshipping God, we often ask the Spirit to come in and envelope us as we worship. We “invite” the Spirit in. But how many times do we “bring” the devil in with us? I think we forget that the enemy can come into our worship just as Jesus can!
I know right. Satan and his demonic spirit often attend our worship services attempting to disrupt things. Now look at what Jesus inspects beginning in verse 2.
“I know your works …” – This is significant! As we continue our examination of Ephesus, we’re going to see how the church didn’t stay faithful to Jesus. But, for Jesus to say “I know your works” is huge and that is not hyperbole. Turn with me to Matthew 7:21-23. “Not every one that says unto Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. (22) Many will say to Me in that day (their day of judgment), ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? And in Your name have cast out demons? And in Your name done many wonderful works? (23) And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.’” From reading this passage in Matthew and seeing Jesus’ standard for whom He knows, we know that the church at Ephesus was not practicing lawlessness, which would have disqualified them from eternal life. I didn’t want us to miss this.
“And labor, and your patience …” – What is the “labor”? First and foremost, it’s labor or work that’s focused on sharing the gospel, or put another way, the work of the ministry.
We do a lot of good things in the Church. We have feeding programs for the poor. We have clothing drives for those in need. We visit the sick and the shut-in. We buy Christmas gifts for the less fortunate families in our community. All of these are good things. But, and this is where many in the Church get off track, to do these things without the gospel as the driving force will endanger you of doing things that Jesus will not recognize as being done for Him. You are walking toward Jesus saying “I never knew you.” Everything I just listed that we Christians do is also being done by those who are not Christians. These activities only count when being done out of a love for Christ!
Rodney, what you said is so important. Doing good doesn’t always mean doing what’s right. Let’s continue. The word “patience” is a word that we talked about earlier with the churches at Smyrna and Philadelphia. It means “to wait with endurance.” It is “the quality of character which does not allow one to surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial.” No matter what the world throws at us, no matter what traps the devil lays for us, when it comes to sharing Jesus and what He has done for us, we will never stop, we will never give up. Can I get an Amen?
“And how you cannot bear them who are evil …” – We have to keep this in context. The word “evil” means to “cause harm.” Who would have the ability to cause harm in the church? It’s not a person who is not a part of the church, but one who is part of the church. Jesus is talking about the men and women under the pastor in leadership positions who speak into the lives of the people. That’s why it’s so important to have mature believers in such positions. First Timothy 3 talks about this very thing as a qualification for the office of bishop and deacon. Let’s read verse 6 – “not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.” The devil will say whatever he needs to say to get you on his side. And Jesus commends them for not “bearing” or accepting, or agreeing, or putting up with what they were doing. Today, we don’t see people in the pews demanding uncompromising truth and behavior from their leaders. Well, let me say it this way – we don’t see enough of it.
“And you have tried them who say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars …” What is an “apostle”? He or she is a person who “is sent … an ambassador.” As the Church was being established, the ministry of the apostle was the only ministry gift in operation. In 1 Corinthians 12:28 and Ephesians 4:8, the apostle is listed first. This is not because the apostle is to be in authority, but because this person is used to start churches and train others for ministry. We see this very clearly in the life of the Apostle Paul. Two characteristics that identify an apostle are an uncompromising demand for scriptural and doctrinal accuracy and a demonstration of God’s power. While some denominations and churches today diminish the role of the apostle in the structure of the church, Jesus does not. With this background in mind, we can see why Jesus commends Ephesus for trying, proving, and verifying a person’s apostleship credentials.
Barry, this is important. The person who sits in the pew is supposed to know a true apostle when they see one. They don’t take the person’s word for it. But too many in the church do exactly that. Today, a person claiming to be an apostle (or prophet or evangelist) can walk into many churches and be accepted without question. God not only holds the false apostle accountable, but He also holds those who sit in the pews of the accountable for allowing a false apostle into their midst.
Rodney, I’m convinced that one of the things that we, as Christians, don’t understand is that God is going to judge us for this too. Look at 1 Peter 4:17. “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” The apostles, after being tried, were found to be liars – about their apostleship and what they were preaching and teaching about the gospel. Jesus was commending the church for being able to discern false apostles and their false teachings. I like the way the Amplified Bible renders this verse. “I know your industry and activities, laborious toil and trouble, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot tolerate wicked [men] and have tested and critically appraised those who call [themselves] apostles (special messengers of Christ) and yet are not, and have found them to be imposters and liars.”
“And have endured, and have patience, and for My name’s sake have labored and not fainted” – Jesus is commending them again for their labor and endurance for the sake of the gospel. The word “fainted” means “a weariness of mind which may hinder physical recovery.” The believers at Ephesus had labored but did so with patience and endurance and because of this, what they did for Jesus did not take a toll on them physically. That is very encouraging to me. It sounds like there is a divine anointing and refreshing that accompanies laboring for the Lord. Now let’s look at verse 4, which Rodney and I will both discuss.
“Nevertheless, I have against you, because you have left your first love” – “Nevertheless” is a word that lets us know that the church has made Jesus very unhappy. And what bothered Jesus so was that they had left their first love. Who was their first love? Jesus! Why does Jesus refer to Himself as our first love? Turn with me to 1 John 4:7-8. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” No person will ever know love until they are born again until they have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. So, our first love, our first true pure love, is God. Now jump down to verse 11. “Beloved, if God so loved us we also ought to love one another.” Now, one more verse. In John 14:15 Jesus says “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Jesus repeats this in verses 21, 23, 24. We know Jesus is our first love, but how did the church at Ephesus leave him?
Barry, part of the answer is found in the verses you just covered. The church began to see what they were doing as activities, things you do because you are part of the church. What they were doing was no longer done because they loved Jesus. What they did they did because that was what the church required of them.
Rodney, I like that. In addition, let’s consider some of the ways that we leave Jesus today.
§ We disobey His Word, which is the entire Bible, but specifically what Paul wrote to the Church in Romans through Jude.
§ We don’t spend any time with Jesus. We will do our 30-minute devotional and that will be all the time we spend with Him during the day. When you love someone, you want to spend time with that person.
§ We don’t read the Bible like we used to when we were new Christians.
§ We don’t talk about Jesus the way we did when we were new Christians.
§ We compromise when Biblical standards conflict with worldly standards.
Rodney, I’m looking forward to your examination of verses five, six, and seven.
Verses 5-7
“Remember therefore from where you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto you quickly, and will remove your lampstand out of its place, except you repent. (6) But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (7) He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:5-7)
Barry, Jesus was very complimentary to the Church for the things that they were doing correctly. But, He was disappointed that they had truly left Him – their first love. You did a nice job of letting us know what that looks like so let’s look at what Jesus told them to do about it. In verse five, Jesus says, “Remember therefore from where you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto you quickly, and will remove your lampstand out of its place, except you repent.”
There are some key words in this verse. The first is “remember.” The first thing they were to do was to remember from “where” they had fallen. This tells us that the Church understood their current state, but had chosen to be okay with it. They had reached a place where compromising no longer bothered them spiritually. Jesus told them to remember where they had come from so that they could get back there. There are few things worse than being lost and not remembering how to get back to where you started. The very fact that you can’t get back is the definition of being lost. The Church of Ephesus was not lost at this point because Jesus told them to remember. They still had time. They were to remember from where they had fallen. Once they remember this, they were to “repent.”
The word “repent” is interesting because it is not a word that we hear a lot in Churches today. The word means to “stop, turn around, and go in another direction.” If you were driving south, it means that you turn the car around and begin to head north. As you head north you are no longer heading south. You can’t be headed both north and south at the same time. I want you to think about this, if this is impossible in the natural – to be headed both north and south at the same time – why in the world do we think this is possible spiritually? Many Christians are trying to go to heaven while heading to hell because that is where their hearts are aligned. Jesus was telling them to repent and turn back to their first love – Him. Now it gets interesting.
Jesus gave them an “or else” if they chose not to repent. This is what He said, “or else I will come unto you quickly, and will remove your lampstand out of its place, except you repent.” Jesus said if they did not repent, He would remove their lampstand. In other words, the Church would cease to exist and people who thought they were going to heaven would end up in hell because they refused to repent. It amazes me how so many Christians believe they can do what they want, live however they choose to live and expect God to be okay with it, regardless of what He has said in His word is acceptable to Him. Too many Christians allow friends and family members to live however they please while calling themselves Christians but never correcting them. They never tell them they are wrong. In doing this, they become partakers (contributors) to their final destination. In verse six Jesus lets them know that everything is not lost. Have you ever chastised a child and when you saw their spirits crushed you offered them some encouragement so they could find strength to do better? In verse six Jesus does just that.
Rodney, as you were explaining this, Proverbs 24:20 came to mind and speaks directly to what you just said: “For there will be no prospect for the evil man; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.”
Thank you, couldn’t have said it better. He tells them, “But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” This Church, although they had left their first love, was not so far gone that they allowed and accepted the teachings of the Nicolaitans. The Nicolaitans were followers of Nicolas of Antioch, a heretic, who apostatized from the truth and formed an Antinomian Gnostic cult that taught impure and immoral doctrines, such as the community of wives, that committing adultery and fornication was not sinful, and that eating meats offered to idols was lawful. They gave themselves over to sensuality with the explanation that such sins did not touch the spirit. The Church of Ephesus hated this teaching. However, we will see in a later lesson that the Church of Pergamos tolerated it. This doctrine was similar to the doctrines of Balaam and Jezebel of Thyatira.
Rodney, the Nicolaitans’ teaching about sin not touching the spirit sounds a lot like the way grace is being taught today in many churches. And such teachings are a denying of our need to live holy lives.
Barry, you are correct. People believe because of grace they can do whatever they please. Jesus ends the message to the Church of Ephesus with these words, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”
Dr. J Vernon McGee referred to “he that has an ear…” as “the blood-tipped ear” which was a requirement for the Old Testament priests. If you recall when Moses anointed Aaron and his sons, he placed a tip of blood on their ears. Leviticus 8:23-24 records the following, “And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. (24) And he brought Aaron's sons, and Moses put some of the blood upon the tip of their right ears, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet: and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.”
Not everyone can hear the Word of God. We can hear it with our physical ears, but not everyone can hear it spiritually because they are not aligned with Him. We learned from the gospels that our Lord Jesus often uses the phrase to alert dull ears. He said that individuals had ears to hear but they hear not. Now He speaks to those with spiritual perception. He said those who had an ear to hear should listen to what the Holy Spirit was saying to the Churches. It’s a promise to the obedient and a warning to the disobedient.
Finally, He says, “To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” For those who overcome we will be able to eat of the tree of life in heaven. The fact that Jesus calls out those who overcome means that there will be some who will not overcome. Those who chose not to repent could not overcome. One cannot exist without the other. We cannot overcome without first repenting and getting back in line with Christ.
Rodney, two things: first, the question I asked myself was “What was it that the church had to overcome? It was a diminishing of their love for Jesus. Are we not seeing this in the church today? And second, each time I see the word “overcome” I’m reminded of 1 John 5:4, which tells us what it takes to be an overcomer in this life. “For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.” If we have faith until the very end of our lives, Revelation says we will eat of the tree of life!
Close
Rodney, as we were walking through the verses about the church at Ephesus, I began to feel a sense of sadness. When the Apostle Paul originally established the church, he spent about three and a half years teaching the gospel of Jesus, which laid a solid foundation for Ephesus’ growth and maturity. And, as you said earlier, Paul appointed Timothy; someone he knew would care for the people just like he would, as their first pastor. But over time, the church lost its compass. And that happened when it no longer believed Jesus was the way! That’s the only way I know to describe it. The church left Jesus and His teachings for something different, for something that appealed more to their souls than to their spirits.
To read about the slow decline in Ephesus’ relationship with Jesus is heartbreaking. And it’s also another reminder of something we hear from time to time – it’s not how you start but how you finish. In the case of the church at Ephesus, I thank God that Jesus saw enough of Himself in them that He was able to offer them hope. And that should be an encouragement to us today. Ephesus hated false apostles, church leaders who were causing harm to the congregation, and the teachings of the Nicolaitans. And the common theme here is the church’s stand against things that were harmful to the congregation. Rodney, although Ephesus had left Jesus, they still recognized and fought against anyone who would hurt the church, especially as it relates to the role of the apostle, church leadership, and grace. And it’s interesting to me that these three issues are still troubling the church today.
Rodney, do you have anything you want to add before I close with prayer?
